Be Brave For Me
by Pyrexiophobia
Summary: When Blaine first transferred to Dalton Academy, he never knew he'd meet someone like Sam Evans. Past! Blaine/Sam Future! Kurt/Blaine
1. Prologue

_Be Brave for Me: Prologue _

Blaine was glad that The Warblers went second in the sectionals completion. It was a good thing for Kurt. Blaine was sure that seeing New Directions perform before The Warblers would probably upset him. Blaine was glad that his old school and Dalton were located a long way away. He did not even have to worry about crossing their path at sectionals or even regionals.

Blaine had been afraid when he saw Kurt talking to a member of McKinley's Glee club. He had pulled him as quickly as possible, hoping that the meeting between Kurt and an old friend wouldn't be upsetting. It seemed that these days, Blaine's entire mind was focused on protecting Kurt. Now that Kurt had joined him at Dalton, Blaine just wanted him to be safe and happy. It had been hard for Blaine to conform to the Warbler's different approach to show choir. He wanted to help Kurt be happy at Dalton. He didn't want to be left, especially since he was developing feelings for the boy. He hadn't felt that way in awhile.

"And Now: McKinley High School's New Directions!"

The music swelled throughout the auditorium. Blaine knew the song from the first two chords. He reached over and gave Kurt's knee a tight supportive squeeze. Kurt turned his head towards the back curtains. Blaine wondered why he would do that, after all the stage was in the front.

"_I've had the time of my life, I've never felt this way before. _"

The voice was familiar. Actually, it was way too familiar. Blaine finally knew why Kurt's head was turned. The dueting couple was entering through the back curtains. Blaine guessed this was the normal way the club started its competitions. Blaine finally willed himself to turn his head. There he was, Sam Evans. He seemed a bit taller. His hair was now blonde. Blaine assumed he was trying to create a new appearance for his school. Blaine wondered what he had thought while the Warblers were performing. Did it upset him at all?

Blaine became very aware of the fact that hi hand had not left Kurt's knee. He let it rest there. He leaned back in the plush seat and let himself remember, the sound of Sam's voice as a soundtrack.


	2. Canary

_Be Brave for Me: Chapter One: Canary _

"Introducing, our newest Warbler, Blaine Johnson!"

The double doors swung open to allow Blaine to enter the room. He was met with polite clapping and a couple of whoops from some of the more playful Warblers. Blaine felt the incessant flapping of nervous butterflies in his stomach, but let a smile grace his face. People were nice here. That's why he had transferred. Nobody was going to hurt him here.

"And now, for out newest Warbler… an actual Warbler." said a member of the council, a boy Blaine already knew as Wes. He talked on about the bright yellow canary in it's cage. Blaine was sure this speech had been rehashed dozens of times. He knew this was tradition. Every boy in the room had to take care of a canary at some point.

Blaine smiled at his new teammates and picked up the cage. He sat down in one of the chairs and set the cage in his lap. The bird was walking around chirping, giving a faint melody to overlap the meeting in progress. Blaine stared into the cage, watching his new companion while listening to various Warblers call out ideas for songs to sing at sectionals.

"Every Rose has it's Thorn." called out on voice. Blaine looked up to see who had made the suggestion. A boy was sitting in an armchair in the corner, his feet popped up on a coffee table. He had light brown hair and the biggest lips Blaine had ever seen. They reminded him of the lips of Angelina Jolie, except they were actually bigger.

"We'll write that down, Sam." said Wes, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Any other suggestions?" he called, looking up from the pamphlet he was scribbling on. Blaine had actually had ideas before the doors to the Warbler's meeting room had swung open, but now his mind felt blank. Besides, what if all of his ideas were shot down? That would be embarrassing.

"No one?" asked another council member, raising an eyebrow. Blaine knew this boy's name was David. "No?" asked Wes, still looking at the pamphlet in his hands. "Well, our choices are Say My Name, A Disney Medley, Hit Me with Your Best Shot, and Every Rose has It's Thorn."

An outcry of discussion broke amongst the Warblers. Blaine was sure he would be swaying in the background anyways. He hadn't made any sort of impression yet. Sure, everyone was more than nice to him, but he still didn't really have an ounce of social standing. Every so often, Blaine would peek over the wire cage to look at Sam, who was actively defending his music choice. Blaine couldn't help letting his mind wander to the thought of Sam's sexual orientation. His lips…

The meeting finally disbanded, with the main song being chosen for sectionals. The winner was Say My Name, which made Sam look notably distressed. Blaine rose with the rest of the group to leave the room, the cage holding the canary named Percival in hand. He was on the way to his dorm room to stash the bird, when he felt a faint tap on his shoulder. Blaine spun around to come face to face with Sam, who was smiling up at him.

"Hey. I'm Blaine." Blaine said, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham." Sam replied, shaking Blaine's hand with a goofy grin. "Welcome to Dalton. I heard your audition. You're really good." The goofy grin had faded from Sam's face, but Blaine could see a smile in his eyes.

"Really?" Blaine asked. As far as he knew, the only people present during his audition were the council members. "I listened through the door with about four other people." Sam said, answering Blaine's unspoken questions. "Don't tell anyone though. Auditions are supposed to be a big secret." Blaine realized that he was still holding on to Sam's hand. He laughed nervously and dropped his hand.

"Well, I'm glad you liked it." he said as confidently as he could muster. "Yeah, you really should audition for a solo. I'm singing lead on Say My Name. I really wish could have put a little classic rock up in our set list, but whatever." Blaine grinned. "I liked your idea." he told him. "Maybe regionals then." Sam said hopefully.

Percival let out a long string of chirps. "I keep forgetting about this little guy." Blaine said softly, peeking into the cage where the canary was singing. Sam chuckled. "I remember when I joined the Warblers as a freshman. My canary Alfred kept me up all night long. I finally figured out that after one round of watching me play World of Warcraft sends him right to sleep. Your bird looks like a polite guy though." Sam stuck out his hand and patted the top of the cage. Percival ruffled his feathers.

"Well," Sam said suddenly, "I'll see you around then." Blaine smiled as Sam dashed up the stairs, obviously just remembering some prior engagement. "Yeah, see you." Blaine muttered to himself.

Later, Blaine was in his dorm room working on his very first Dalton Academy research paper. He had been attending the school for less than a week and was already swarmed with homework. Blaine impatiently tapped his fingers on the keys trying to think of ideas for writing a paper about the industrial revolution. He glanced at his screen, taking in what he had produced so far. Well, he had set up the paper in MLA format. That was a start. He had not thought of a suitable title though, He reached up and ran his fingers through his curly hair. He was suffering from a really bad case of writers block.

His attention was pulled from his paper when he heard a knock on his door. This unwanted noise automatically set off Percival who began chirping incessantly. Blaine quickly leapt from his chair, sending a History textbook flying off his desk. He quickly picked it up and returned it to its proper place and went to open the door.

Sam Evans was standing in the doorway. Blaine asked the first thing that came to his mind, "How do you know where I live?" Sam laughed. "Well, don't act happy to see me or anything." he said, poking out his lip. He pulled out a folded piece of paper from the breast pocket of his blazer and unfolded it. "Student directory." he told Blaine, flapping it in his face. Blaine caught a glimpse of his name next to his dorm and room number.

"Am I allowed to come in?" Sam asked, peeking his head into the room. "Oh yeah, come in." Blaine said, moving out of the way so Sam could walk in. "You get your own room, lucky." Sam chided, automatically taking a seat on Blaine's bed as though he had visited a million times before.

"Yeah, since I came in at a weird time, they didn't have a roommate for me. I'll probably get one next semester though. Either someone new will come in, or two roommates will begin to hate each other so much that they move out. For now though, It's just me and Percy over there." Blaine explained. Percival chirped as though he understood exactly what he was saying. "Lucky!" Sam repeated. "Alfred annoys my roommate so much."

Blaine smiled. "I bet he really likes him, deep down." Blaine sat back down at his computer and stared at the blank screen. "I have no idea what to write about for the Industrial Revolution. Did you know that research papers aren't very commonplace in public schools except for Advanced Placement classes?" he mused, typing in what he thought would be a good enough title: When America's Gears Started to Grind.

"Don't ask me about history. Do not ask me about that. Schoolwork is not my strong suit. I've been here playing football on scholarship since ninth grade. I have a tutor for all my classes. " Sam told him, running his fingers on Blaine's bed spread. Blaine had not picked out Sam to be a football player. Still, even the jocks were nice at Dalton. Blaine typed a couple half-assed sentences for introduction. "That sucks." he said, empathizing. "Yeah," Sam said, "I'm dyslexic, which means my grades suck.

"Oh." Blaine said, reading over what he had written so far. "That's not good." Sam smiled. "Oh no, I'm used to it. Besides, I'm Dalton's quarterback. They'll do almost anything to keep me here. I just do what I can." he explained nonchalantly.

There was a moment of silence before Sam spoke again. "Why are you here, Blaine?' Blaine took a deep breath; he hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn. In fact, he was perfectly happy with not revealing why he had chosen to come to Dalton in the middle of the semester. Still, he figured that it was probably time to make the grand reveal, no matter hard it was.

"Uh, bullies at my old school. I knew Dalton had zero tolerance for harassment. So, my parents and I thought it was for the best. " he said, leaving out any gruesome details of how badly he was tormented every day, or that bottle of pills he kept hidden under his bed at home. He knew that it was best to keep his story concise.

"Why would they do that to you? You're cool." Sam exclaimed, leaving the bed and walking up to Blaine, putting a hand on his shoulder. Blaine looked down at his keyboard. "I'm gay. They didn't like that. People at my old school had problems with anyone who was, well, different from them." he told him as casually as possible. It wasn't that big of a deal. He was gay. He was safe here.

"Well, you're totally safe here. We'll protect you. It doesn't matter one bit here." Sam said, his hand still resting protectively on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine let a smile creep up on his face. "Yeah. I'm happy here." he said, hoping that that would really be the case.

"Well," Sam began, letting his hand drop from Blaine's shoulder, "It is 5:30 and I really need to get my eat on. Dinner?" Blaine nodded. This paper was not going to get anywhere without some food in his stomach. "Yeah, let's go." he said, standing up and following Sam out the door.


	3. Swaying in The Background

_Be Brave for Me: Chapter 2: Swaying in the Background_

The sheet music for Say My Name was passed out amongst the Warblers at their next rehearsal. Blaine looked down at his and saw what he had expected; Oohs, ahs, dings, dums and an occasional join in with the chorus. However, each ooh and ah was so intricate. Blaine had always thought acapella choirs were easy. Now, that he looked down at the very complicated music, he realized he was misguided.

"Alright Warblers, let's get to work." Wes called, clapping his hands together. All the Warblers left their chairs. "We'll get to work on choreography later, let's focus on the song first. Just get in some sort of formation and Sam take the front." Wes added, motioning for the group to move together. He then moved his arms for them to begin. They automatically started singing. Soon enough, Josh a boy who had been dubbed 'the human drum' began his beats. Then, Sam began his solo. "Say my name, say my name. When nobody is around you, say baby I love you, why the sudden change?" he sang. Even though he wasn't singing the song he had chosen, Sam sung and moved with the grace of a person who was singing their very favorite song. Blaine really had to admire that about him.

The song was worked on for over an hour. The only pauses were when Wes ran to the piano to play the messed up notes. By the time they were dismissed, Blaine was exhausted. "Everyone who has been invited to audition a solo, please stay behind. Everyone else, you may go." David said, taking a seat. Blaine took this as his cue to leave, and he went towards the door with the rest of the mob. Then, he felt his arm be tugged on. "Where do you think you're going?" Sam asked, twirling Blaine around to face him. "Everyone who has been invited to audition for a solo, please stay behind. Everyone else, you may go." Blaine repeated. Sam laughed. "But, you have been invited to audition for a solo." He told him, as though he was speaking to a fourth grader. "What? When?" Blaine asked. He didn't remember ever being invited to audition for a solo. Was he losing his mind?

"Yesterday, I told you that you should audition for a solo." Sam stated, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Blaine thought back and remembered. "Oh yeah! I remember now. I just thought you had to be like formally invited or something." he explained. "Yeah," Sam said, smirking, "That was me formally inviting you. Now go sit down." Sam motioned towards an empty chair in the room, and then left. Blaine decided that if he ever got the pull to formally invite people to audition for a solo, he would make it very clear that he was inviting them to do so. He chuckled to himself before he walked over to the set of chairs to find a seat.

Blaine had no idea what he wanted to do for his solo. He was sitting at his desk, scrolling through his music library. He didn't want to get too crazy with his selection. He was well aware that the Warblers had a specific style and he would do best with a pop tune. He clicked on pop in the genres section and began looking. He was listening to a song by Rihanna when he heard a knock on the door.

Blaine quickly went to the door, pretty sure about whom was knocking. Sure enough, when he opened the door, Sam was standing there. "Russian Roulette, huh?" he asked, squeezing past Blaine to get in the room. "Bad idea. Don't sing that one." he stated, walking over to Blaine's desk to sit down at the computer.

Blaine slowly walked over to where Sam was sitting to peer over his shoulder. "What the Warbler's really love…" he said scrolling through the song list, "is Britney Spears." He smiled and clicked on a song title, the room swelling with music. "Ah yeah yeah yeah yeah." Blaine laughed. "Really? This song?" he asked. "Yeah." Sam replied. "I think I did it again. I made you believe we're more than just friends." came from Blaine's speakers. "You really think so?" Blaine asked again. Sam just nodded.

"Oh baby, it might seem like a crush. But it doesn't mean, that I'm serious." Blaine sang later at his audition. He was trying to sing over the heads of the Warblers, but he couldn't help glancing at Sam who was smiling in approval. "But to lose all of my senses, that is just so typically me, oh baby baby." he continued, adding a little twirl. He had been practicing this one song for hours since Sam had first played it on his computer. He wanted the song to be absolutely perfect.

Once he hit the final note, the room burst into applause. Sam was smiling up at him. As Blaine was leaving the room, he saw Sam give him a thumbs up. Once the large double doors had closed behind him, Blaine couldn't help jumping up in the air. He hadn't counted on a younger boy to be passing at the time. Embarrassed, Blaine ran his hand through his gelled coif and tried to flash a winning smile. The boy just gave him a dazed look and walked on.

Now was the moment of truth. Blaine was sitting in a room with the three other boys who had been invited to audition. All of them were sitting nervously, their heads in their hands. One boy was gnawing at his fingernails. Blaine let himself breathe. If he didn't get to sing solo this time, there were always other chances. He kept repeating this in his mind until the doors opened to reveal Wes. "Alright." he said, peering over the group of boys. "Paul and Blaine are moving on. Thank you everyone else for your time." he said, motioning for Blaine and Paul to follow him.

It took Blaine a moment to register that his name had been called. He got up from his seat and began to follow. He walked directly beside Paul. "Congratulations." He told him, smiling cheerfully. "You too." Paul said, staring directly ahead. Wes led them back to the room where the Warbler's met.

Once they were inside, Wes finally spoke. "Okay. The next stage of the audition is for you both sing your songs just to the council. We will make the final decision. Paul, we'll start with you. Blaine, please wait outside for us to call you in." He motioned Blaine towards the doors. Blaine walked out, feeling rather nervous. He stood by the door and listened to his opponent. He recognized the song he was singing as My Never by Blue October. Their song choices really couldn't be any different.

Blaine pressed his ear against the door. Paul was a really good singer. Blaine really hoped he could go in there and top him. He really wanted that solo, more than he had wanted anything in awhile. He felt his fists clench together, waiting in agony for the song to be over. He was ready to go in there and knock the council's socks off.

Finally, Paul uttered the last soft note. Blaine heard polite clapping from within the room. Blaine realized that his ear was still up against the door and jumped back before it swung open. Paul left the room and Wes followed. "Okay, your turn, Blaine." he said walking back inside. Blaine entered the room, ready to show them what he had.

Blaine had been refreshing his email over and over for the past hour. Sam was sitting on his bed playing a gameboy and randomly interjecting words of encouragement. Blaine had be notified that the results of the audition would be sent to his email as soon as possible. Sam had come to his door because he was 'bored'.

"It will come soon enough. Relax." Sam said for what seemed like the billionth time. "Yeah." Blaine replied hitting the refresh button. Then, there it was. "Sam Sam Sam, come here. It's here." he screeched, waiting for Sam to lazily get off the bed and come join him. "Okay, I'm going to open it." Blaine said slowly, his hand hovering over his laptops track pad. He finally clicked and the message showed itself.

Congratulations, Blaine. You will be singing Oops I did it Again at sectionals!


	4. Dance Away

_Be Brave For Me: Chapter 3: Dance Away _

Now that Sectionals were rapidly approaching, Blaine felt the rarely had the time to breathe. His days were divided between Warbler's practice and the increasing load of schoolwork that was constantly falling on him. Still, Sam came over often, usually just playing pokemon on Blaine's bed while he worked on a paper. Occasionally, he would coax him into a study break where they would watch Star Trek an Ohio State Buckeyes game

Blaine had never really cared much for football, but Sam was a fanatic. Soon enough, Blaine was learning about the sport and actually becoming a fan. It was when Blaine actually threw a pillow at the television after a bad play, that he realized that Sam has successfully converted him to the sport of football.

Meanwhile, Blaine was really coming into his own at his new school. He had become friends with Wes and David who were not so uptight outside of Warbler's practice. In fact, they were a regular pair of jokesters. The third council member Jackson was always serious no matter where he was.

Still, Warbler's practice was all business. Blaine had never preformed harder in his life. He was constantly being pushed to do better, which improved his performance a thousand fold, but left him physically and mentally aching. He was in desperate need of some sort of fun that didn't involve any work.

The solution to Blaine's fun problem came in the form of an e-mail one day about a week before sectionals. Dalton Academy would be having a dance with their sister school Agnes Academy. "We have a sister school?" Blaine asked Sam, who was once again in his room. "Yeah, we team up with them every spring to do a musical. We have two dances with them a year." Sam told him.

"Oh, cool." Blaine muttered, scrolling down to check out the date and time for the dance. "This Saturday." he said brightly, "You going?" he asked casually as possible. Blaine had still yet been able to discover Sam's sexuality. It was frustrating because what had started out as a little crush had blossomed into what Blaine felt was an out of control monster.

"Yeah. I always go." Sam said simply. Blaine smiled to himself. "I'll check it out." He told him as he closed his laptop. "Luckily, I brought a suit from home. I wasn't sure I'd have a reason to use it, but now's my chance. " he said cheerfully, standing up and stretching. "Now, I want a study break. Didn't you say you wanted me to watch Lord of the Rings?" Sam nodded and scooted over to give Blaine room to sit. "I'm more of a Harry Potter guy myself, but I'll give it a shot." Blaine said, grabbing his remote and pressing play.

Rap music was blaring from Dalton's gym. Blaine could see guys grinding on girls in every direction. Blaine was busying himself with the punch bowl, not too keen about grinding on some random person. Sam was nowhere to be seen. Blaine wished he wasn't in within the mob with some random girl from Agnes Academy. He fought hard to keep that image from his mind.

The couples quickly broke apart once the slow music started. They grabbed each other and began awkwardly moving around the floor to the beat. Blaine watched them, bemused, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. A girl with long black hair and a pink dress stood next to him. "Care to dance, handsome?" she asked. Blaine felt that the answer "No, I'm gay." would be a bit rude. Maybe he could make a friend. He took her hand and bowed, then led her to the dance floor. "What's your name?" he asked her, beginning to get used to the beat of the song. "Jade, yours?" Blaine gave her a twirl. "Blaine." he said.

They continued to dance. Blaine finally noticed Sam, who was sitting at a table in the corner, talking to Paul. Blaine tried to keep up the dance, but his eyes kept moving to him. It didn't take long for Jade to notice the attention wasn't fully on her. "I should of known." She whispered. "You're too nice and dapper to be straight." She giggled and gave his tie a tug. Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Go talk to him!" she told him. "Well, find me one of your friend's first." Blaine turned his head towards Sam and watched. "Here, let me introduce me to my friend Wes. I think you'll like him." he told her, leading her off the dance floor.

As soon as Wes was waltzing Jade around the dance floor, Blaine went to sit next to Sam. Paul had been picked up by some short blonde girl. "What's up?" Blaine greeted, leaning back in his chair. "I'm bored." Sam replied. "I always come to these things and get bored." Sam sighed, placing his hands on the table with a thud. "Sorry." Blaine said. Sam shot him a furtive grin. "Let's ditch this." he said matter-of-factly. "I've got this really cool movie in my room." He got up from his chair and motioned for Blaine to follow him.

Blaine had only been in Sam's room a couple of times and they had been quick trips. They usually hung out in Blaine's room since it didn't have the disruption of a roommate. They usually only entered Sam's messy room to grab a DVD and then quickly went back to Blaine's.

As soon as Blaine stepped into Sam's room he was met with a huge pile of dirty tee shirts on the floor. "Do you own a hamper?" he asked, wrinkling his nose at the odor. "Yeah, but when I get in from practice, I kinda just throw it." Sam said simply, miming the action of throwing something on the floor. Blaine laughed. "Well, I need to take care of, uh, something. Be right back." Sam said, going towards the bathroom.

Blaine began picking up the shirts from the floor. He located Sam's hamper in his closet and threw him in, trying to not be overtaken by the rank smell. Once his chore was complete, Darren took a seat at Sam's desk. He smiled at the pictures of Sam's family that he had placed on his desk. Then, his eyes fell on a copy of The Dalton Scribe, the school newspaper. He picked it up and began flipping through the pages, landing on an article on the Warblers. He noticed that a picture had been cut out. Curious, he read the line under it.

Blaine Johnson, Dalton's newest Warbler, will be singing a solo in the upcoming Sectionals completion.

Why had Sam cut his picture out? Blaine set down the newspaper. He decided that Sam must have been making some sort of scrapbook. Sure, Sam didn't really seem like the type to scrap book, but everyone had to have some sort of weird hobby. The fact that Sam had cut out a picture of him was endearing. However, it probably didn't mean that he liked him or anything of the sort. Blaine couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up.

He heard the flushing of the toilet within the bathroom and waited for Sam to reemerge. It didn't take very long for Sam to come out. "So, what awesome movie were you talking about?" Blaine asked, spinning around Sam's rolling chair to face him. "Uh, have you seen fight club?" Sam asked, sitting down on the bed. "Yeah," Blaine replied, "But I wouldn't say no to seeing it again." He got up and joined Sam so he could see the television. "Good, It's one of my favorites." Sam said happily, as he rifled through a case of DVDS.

"I don't even know why I go to those dances." he said as he flipped, "They're so boring." Blaine laughed. "Well, yeah. They're also whole being expected to grind on girls thing." he added. Sam looked up from the case. "Yeah, girls." he said. They both began to laugh.

Then, Sam was kissing him. Blaine was taken aback at first. He hadn't expected it. It only took a moment for him to kiss him back with everything he had. Sam kissed him with a strange animalistic passion he had never seen before. Blaine let his arms be removed from his suit jacket as Sam climbed on top of him.

Blaine felt happy and it all felt _right_. In one moment, he no longer needed to question Sam's sexuality or the feelings he had for him. They were all right there. Maybe Sam wasn't making a scrap book after all.

Blaine sighed as Sam left a trail of kissed down his neck. He reached and pulled Sam's chin towards him so he could lean in for another kiss. Sam thankfully obliged. This defiantly beat the dance they were at earlier. Then suddenly, Sam broke the kiss and sat up on the bed.

"Uh, I just remembered. I have, uh, stuff to do." Sam said weakly, his eyes on the floor. Blaine frowned. "Oh. Okay." he said softly, standing up and pulling his jacket back on. "Yeah," Sam stammered, "I just have this thing that I really need to do. I'm sorry. Uh, I'll see you around."

"Okay, bye." Blaine said. He left the room, feeling more confused than he had ever felt. Just moments before, everything had felt perfectly in place. He wanted to burst back into Sam's room and demand an explanation. Instead, he walked back to his room in silence.


	5. Competing

_Be Brave For Me: Chapter 4: Competing _

Now that sectionals were just around the corner, the Warbler's were working harder than ever. If Blaine had felt slightly stressed before, he was really stressed now. The fact that he and Sam were not speaking did not help matters one bit. Sam didn't even seem to ever even look at Blaine. Yet, Blaine felt he couldn't keep his eyes off him. He was painfully aware of Sam whenever they practiced Say My Name. While he was harmonizing in the background, Sam's voice was the focal point. It was his job to pay attention to him. He wondered if Sam felt the same way when Blaine sang his solo.

At night, Blaine busied himself with what seemed to be a never ending pile of homework. As he sat at his desk trying to solve his math problems, his ears would perk up at the slightest movement from outside his door, hoping that Sam might have come to knock at last. The whole thing was so confusing and strange. Sam had started it after all. Why was he pushing him away?

When Blaine finally plucked up enough courage to go to Sam's room and ask for some sort of explanation, Sam was not there. Instead, Blaine was met by his porky roommate Charles who stood at the door in a wife beater and a pair of Mickey Mouse pajama pants. Blaine understood why Sam would much rather do without Charles presence. He was a rather strange individual. In fact, Blaine had a pretty good idea that the reason Charles was attending Dalton was because of the zero tolerance bullying policy. This ought to have made the two boys comrades in arms, but Blaine had been bullied because he was gay, not because he picked his nose during class.

"Hello Blaine. Are you looking for Sam?" Charles asked, a wry smile appearing on his face. Blaine wondered if Charles knew anything. No, that was foolish. Why would he? "Yeah, is he here?" Blaine asked, peering into the messy room looking for a glance of him. "Naw, he's got stuff to do. Yeah, but want me to tell him you came?" Blaine backed away. "Uh, I'll just come by later. Don't worry about it." he said in the friendliest tone possible. "Bye." Charles called, shutting the door behind him.

Blaine decided that he could maybe get Sam alone after Warbler's practice, but that proved to be impossible. As soon as they were dismissed every evening, Sam was the first one to rush out the door. "What's his hurry?" David asked one evening, chuckling as he left the room with Blaine. Blaine was pretty sure what the rush was, but he just shrugged. "I dunno." he lied. "He's been acting weird all week." Wes said, joining them. "Yeah. Blaine said evasively.

"Oh yeah, Blaine!" Wes turned to him and beamed, "Thanks for introducing me to that girl. She's great. She's really great." Blaine smiled and patted him on the back. "Glad you like her." Wes laughed. "Yeah, we talk like every night now. You won't believe it. We like almost all the same things…. Her favorite musical is Next to Normal; my favorite musical is Next to Normal. It's crazy!" he gabbed happily. He continued to sing her praises all the way to the dining hall. It didn't surprise Blaine one bit when Wes facebook relationship status was updated the next day.

Then, Saturday came and they went to sectionals. Blaine felt nervous the entire way there. Then, there was also the fact that he couldn't stop staring at Sam, who was sitting with David. Every single time Blaine saw Sam, he felt some strange pain in his chest. Why wouldn't he talk to him? That question ran through his mind over a hundred times a day, but he couldn't come up with e legitimate answer. He resolved that he was going to talk to Sam once the competition was over no matter what.

After an hour trip, the bus finally stopped at the dingy high school they were having their competition that. The Warbler's filed out of the bus in a orderly fashion and then went towards the doors. "This is it!" Wes told the group happily. Blaine wished he could be as optimistic as his friend. He was getting more nervous by the second. There was also the fact that the Warblers were going first. This was both a good and bad thing. Blaine wanted to get it over with so he could relax, but he wouldn't be able to scope out the competition beforehand.

All that he knew was that The Warblers were up against James Madison High School and another private school called Portridge. He also knew that both of these schools had co-ed show choirs. Their styles and song selections were unknown to him. He barely even had time to think before he was ushered backstage. The Warblers were on in ten minutes. Thankfully, their uniforms were their costumes. They didn't have to worry about getting dressed. Instead, they warmed up using a old dusty piano backstage. The ten minutes passed entirely too fast and soon enough the Warblers were being introduced.

They walked on stage in the formation that they had practiced hundreds of times. Say My Name was the first song on their set list. Sam walked to the front of the group. Then, they began. The chorography and notes of the song had been hardwired into Blaine's brain. He preformed the number without much thought, trying to keep the sound of Sam's voice from sending him on edge. He could continue to be confused after the performance was over. First, he wanted trophy.

Soon enough, the song was over. Blaine smiled as the crowd burst into applause. A couple of people were even giving them standing ovations. Once the clapping had died down, Sam moved back into the group and Blaine took this as his cue to move to the front. He took a deep breath and waited for the group to sing the first notes. Once Blaine began to sing, all the problems he had been facing recently began to drain from his mind. He was full of energy. He sang with all he had and moved with as must grace as he could muster. In no time, the song was over and he could relish in the applause that was being issued towards him. He stepped back into the group and they all bowed before walking offstage.

Blaine soon felt his back being slapped by his fellow Warblers. "Great job!" some one told him as they gave him a high five. "You too!" he said, slapping the hand. He hadn't felt this great in awhile. As the group moved towards the auditorium so the could take a seat, Blaine heard many more good jobs and tried to return as many as he was getting. The only person who didn't look happy was Sam who was walking ahead of everyone, face fixed on the direction he was walking with almost no emotion painted upon it.

They all took a seat, Blaine grabbing one between Wes and David, and watched the rest of the competition. The next group was The James Madison High School Harmonies. They were reasonably good. Their songs of choice were Mr. Sandman and Lollypop. The boys were wearing pastel colored suits and the girls were outfitted in poodle skirts. "Very very safe choices." Wes whispered to Blaine. "I have seen fifties themed set lists way too many times." David yawned next to him. "Be polite." Blaine whispered, fighting the urge to laugh.

The Portridge Performers (yes, that was their name) preformed an eight minute long medley of songs from The Lion King. They even dressed the shortest girl in the choir as baby Simba and lifted her into the air. Blaine stared into the crowd, eyes wide. Wes quickly began to whisper rapidly into his ear. "Sure, it all looks nice, but it has some major flaws. That Swahili during The Circle of Life is all off. Some people were just mouthing the words. The arrangement of Can you Feel the Love Tonight is just weird. The judges notice these things I promise." Wes broke away as the performance finished and began to clap politely.

After that, the groups were called backstage while the judges were deliberating. Blaine complemented using that time to try to talk to Sam, but Wes, David, and some random girl from Portridge quickly pulled him into a game of Catchphrase. After David, who had been hiding his Catchphrase skills from them, smoked them five times, the three schools were called onstage. "I will beat you one day." Wes told David as they went on stage together.

"Everyone is a winner today." the woman who was presenting the awards droned on as Blaine waited for the winner's to be announced. This woman clearly relished the fact that she had an entire audience below her to bore. David yawed and Wes elbowed him in the ribs. Blaine had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from bursting into laughter. Finally, the woman's planned speech was complete. "Now, our third place is…" a drum roll began to play from the speakers "The James Madison High School Harmonies!" There was polite applause as a girl went up to collect the small trophy.

The announcer cleared her throat. "Now, I will announce the winner who will move on the regionals competition." The drum roll started up again. "In first place…. The Dalton Academy Warblers!" It took a second for Blaine to process that they had won. He was immediately pulled into a giant group hug. Sam bounded up to grab the trophy and shook hands with the announcer. "That's a wrap!" she said, apparently trying to be clever. They all left the stage in a rush.

The next couple hours were a blur of celebration. The Warblers had a celebratory party in their choir room. Blaine felt like he had never ate so much food in his life. He noticed that Sam was only eating from the carrots and celery bowl. He wasn't talking to anyone, just keeping to himself. Blaine decided it was high time to have a chat with him, and walked over. "It's a party, Sam," he said once he was next to him, "Why aren't you partying?" Sam didn't say anything. "Come on." Blaine said, grabbing Sam's forearm and walking him outside.

Once they were away from everyone else Blaine started on what had been plaguing him since the dance. "What's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?" he pleaded, looking into Sam's averted eyes. Sam sighed and sat down against the wall, patting the ground for Blaine to join him. Blaine sat down next to him and waited for an explanation.

"I'm… confused." Sam said softly, staring at the ground. Blaine crossed his arms against his chest. "About your feelings?" he guessed. "Yeah. I mean, I've never liked a _guy_ before." Sam told him, his eyes still fixed on the ground. "I remember feeling like that." Blaine said leaning against the wall. 'It was hard." he remembered.

"Yeah, I mean you know what you like. You like guys. I like girls and I like you. I might have liked other guys, but it's never been like you. I've never even liked a girl like I like you." Sam said softly, burying his head in his hand. Blaine reached out and patted him on the back. "I like you a lot." he admitted. "I don't want to lose you because you're scared. We could have something amazing." Sam looked up. "I'm terrified." he admitted. Blaine reached over and took his hand. Sam flinched but didn't pull away.

"Then, be brave. Be brave for me." Blaine said slowly, giving his hand a squeeze. A small smile finally appeared on Sam's face. "I want to." he said after a moment. "You're safe here." Blaine said, remembering what the headmaster had told him when he first enrolled. Sam nodded and smiled. Then, Blaine leaned in and kissed him. Sam kissed him softly and pulled back smiling. Then, they stood up, still holding hands, and returned to the party.


End file.
